1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coating compositions and processes for the protection of products in light-transmitting containers. More specifically, the present invention relates to the prevention of an occurance of a phenomenon referred to commonly as "lightstruck" or "sunstruck" which causes offensive flavor of certain substances, such as beer in glass bottles, upon exposure of the substances to harmful light.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It has been known that beverages such as beer, ale and the like made from or containing fermented extracts of malt are not stable to light. It is believed that harmful light, particularly in the ultraviolet region, adversely affects the flavor of these beverages in transparent light-transmitting containers and thereby causes the lightstruck flavor. The common art-known method of preventing lightstruck flavor of these beverages entails making the containers brown or dark amber in color. These colored containers are believed to cut out most of the harmful light. Alternately, the containers can be treated with a delustering agent in order to reflect and diffuse the harmful light at the surface and thus prevent its passage into the containers. To be sure, bottles have been coated in the art for aesthetic reasons. Also, bottles, particularly pressurized bottles, have been coated in order to strengthen them and, thus, guard against explosion and/or scattering of the exploded bottles.
Principally of interest here are containers that are surface treated with coatings that significantly reduce the effect of the harmful light on contents of transparent containers.